Possibly the largest earthquake of its kind has been recorded in the Indian Ocean, say seismologists.
At least four faults in the Indo-Australian plate caused a
magnitude-8.7 earthquake in April last year, say experts from the
University of Utah and University of California, Santa Cruz.

The quake was previously believed to be of 8.6 magnitude, 40% smaller
than the latest estimate, the scientists have reported in the Nature journal.

It happened when at least four undersea fault ruptured southwest of
Sumatra, Indonesia, in less than three minutes. At least 10 people died
from the quake or resulting heart attacks. The effects were felt from
India to Australia, including South and Southeast Asia.

Taken as separate quakes, the magnitude of the ruptures would have
been 8.5, 7.9, 8.3 and 7.8 on the "moment magnitude" scale that
calculates the largest quakes, the seismologists say....MORE